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Tuesday, 8 March 2016

The Tragedy at Towitta (Part 7) – The Trial of Mary Schippan

The Tragedy at Towitta (Part 7) – The Trial of Mary Schippan

The young and naïve
Mary Schippan was very much out of place in the harsh environment of the
Adelaide Gaol. Amongst thieves and prostitutes, there was no friendly faces,
and being accused of murder, set her apart from the lower crimes, with the few women
that were doing time, avoiding her as best they could. Mary’s only constant
visitor was Father Eital from the Lutheran Church, who was consoling Mary about
her upcoming trial and the possibility of being hung for the crime.

The date for her trial was set for Tuesday March 4th
1902.

Whilst Mary sat in Adelaide Gaol, an exhumation of her
sister, Bertha had begun in Sedan Cemetery for a re-examination of the body for
missed clues. Both the prosecution and the defence were gathering evidence and
statements for the upcoming trial in March.Meanwhile, the general public where
whipped up into a frenzy over the whole case, looking for any bit of
information about it they could get, and on March 4th, a huge crowd
of onlookers gathered in Victoria Square near the courthouse, a smaller crowd
though, waited at the Adelaide Gaol to see if they could spot Mary as she was
taken to the trial.

Mary’s parents and two brothers traveled to the city and
were staying in Grenfell Street, they were to be called as witnesses again.

The courthouse filled
quickly that morning, but to the disappointment of the crowd the case against
Mary was adjourned until the following morning.The following morning Mary was taken to
the courthouse from the Adelaide Gaol, she sat and A few formalities were dealt with, and
Mary was asked to offer her plea, of which she replied in a calm soft voice “I
am not guilty Sir.”

waited in the Dock for Chief
Justice Samuel Way to enter at precisely 10am.

After the usual court
hearing formalities, a jury was presented and the trial began. The Crown
Solicitor Sinclair offered the opening argument about goings on that night,
which ended with the following statement.

“The suggestion that the prosecution makes is that the deed
was either prompted by jealousy arising from an invitation from Nitschke to
Bertha to accompany him to Adelaide, or by fear that the knowledge of Mary’s misbehavior possessed by Bertha would be communicated to the Father upon his
return home.

I ask the jury not to
allow sentiment to dictate their finding, and not to permit sympathy to
dominate reason.”

August and Wilhelm
were called successively as witnesses for cross examination, and gave almost
matching accounts, the same as they had in the inquest earlier in January. The
followed by Mary’s Mother Johanne who was asked about the girl’s clothing.Court adjourned at 6:30pm that evening.
Police had to use diversionary tactics to take Mary back to the Adelaide Gaol
as the crowd had grown to over 1500 people around the courthouse, trying to get
a glimpse of her.

The next day saw
members of the Lambert and Henkes families called forth to give witness and
statement from Detective Fraser, Mounted Constable McArthur and Gustave
Nitschke.

Gustave Nischke was seen by the general public as a villain,
and upon his leaving court that day, a large group of angry people began to
follow him, as he sped up, they sped up too. It wasn’t until a police escort
was presented that he was able to escape the angry crowd that looked as if it
could riot at any minute.

On day 5 the defence mounted its case. Symon, for the
defence, presented a well thought out and eloquent defence that lasted a full
day. He detailed all events and possibilities that the prosecution had
presented as motive and cause, and defended Mary, whilst in the same vein,
destroying the reputation on Nitschke.

In fact on the evening
of day 5 of the hearing, the gathered crowd had become so angry towards the
man, there was a good chance he would be lynched in the street. As he made his
way down King William Street, the crowd turned angry, and he was struck in the
face by two men. Nitschke ran to a nearby cab-rank for help, but they ignored
him, so he ran to the Prince of Wales Hotel, where he was quickly turned away
by the publican. Nitschke ran down the street dodging blows until police,
hearing his screams, rescued him and escorted him away from the crowd, thus
saving his life.

Day 6, the courtroom
was full, as were the streets outside. There was tension in the air as
proceedings began again at 10am. Chief Justice Way then went about condensing
the previous 5 days statements and evidence before conceding to the Jury for
their verdict.Statements were made by both the
prosecution and defence, and before retiring at 6:10pm to gather for their
verdict, the jury asked for some of the clothing and the bed clothes to be
delivered to them while they came to their conclusion.

The Jury returned to the courtroom at 8:06 pm that evening.
The eerie glow of the now lit gas lamps and the total silence of everyone in
the room led to an electric atmosphere. Mary sat in the witness box, quietly
awaiting her fate.

Mary stood, grim and silent, as she waited for the Jury
foreman to come forward and read out loud the verdict.When asked by the Crown if Mary Schippan
was guilty of not guilty, John Bradley, the Jury foreman uttered “Not Guilty”
in a nervous voice. Instantly the crowd erupted in applause and cheers, and
outside the 3000 people gathered also began to cheer as the news spread through
the crowd. Popular opinion was that Mary was innocent of the crime, and this
was the outcome the public hoped for.

Meanwhile back in the courtroom, Chief Justice Way was
shouting for order and trying to control the celebrations.

Mary was reunited with
her parents, and ushered out into a police cab, for 100 meters down King
William Street people cheered for her, however, some of the crowd hung back at
the courthouse, waiting to see Nitschke, and hurling abuse towards him.

Police had been prepared for this, and had set up a number of
diversions to distract the crowd, secreting Nitschke out of the area and away
to safety.

NEXT WEEK: The Tragedy at Towitta (Part
8) – The Aftermath of a Famous Trial

All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.

Some photo's used here on this site are sourced from The Sate Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.

All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.

Some photo's used on this website are sourced from The Sate Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.

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On the 7-1-2013, The Haunts of Adelaide was added to The National Library of Australia's "Pandora" archive.http://pandora.nla.gov.au/